One by One, They Come Undone
by grey.fog
Summary: At least 22 of them had to die, but they all had their own stories to tell. What was it like for those Tributes who came from cities, those who were brought up to fight, those who had never fought a day in their life? POV/chap for each tribute of 74th HG
1. District 9 Male: First One to Go

Disclaimer and note: For whole story – Hunger Games not mine, characters not mine, characterization for some are made up. I'm sure once the movie comes up, we'll find out how each tribute dies (maybe).

This will be a story about each of their last moments, the thoughts running through their head. All the ones who died in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia have very little information on them, so I made it up. No names are given for those where names were not mentioned because I didn't want to correct it in the future if more information appears. Hope you enjoy. :)

Title: The First To Go

District 9 Male

Sixty seconds. Sixty seconds of safety, of knowing for that one minute I am safe, and after that minute I will most likely be dead. I have no delusions. I am not a fighter, I have no hope against the 'careers' no hope against some of the others.

Do I prolong my life? Do I run to the woods or go for the Cornucopia? I can't do anything, frustration a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe I should just step past this little disc, have my legs blown up. No, my parents will suffer. They will tell them, "You're son was a coward." But I had no choice to refuse.

The gong goes off and I'm running. Maybe I can survive for a little bit, but I am not a forager. My eyes are set on the bright orange backpack, but that girl from 12 is running for it too. Everyone knows _her, _the one with the near perfect mark, the one her fellow tribute from 12 is in love with. Where is he now? Not with her. Wasn't much in love with her after all, was he?

We fight for the bag, trying to yank it out of each other arms.. and for a moment it's just me and her in this game of survival, and I forget there are twenty two other people. Math was never my strong suit.

There's a sharp sudden pain in my back, and I'm coughing, and something's making its way up my throat bitter and metallic and blood splatters District 12's face. And in a haze, I realize it's mine.

In the end it doesn't matter if District 12 Girl is loved, does it? One of them, or both of them have to die. At least, I love no one here, I will not see their faces in the sky, but they will see mine. Perhaps my parents won't care all that much, but she.. she will. I try to keep the pain from my face, just in case she is watching, but really I'm starting to feel nothing. It's funny.. it's far easier to die than I thought.

There are hurried footsteps, my head pulled up by my hair, cold steel at my throat and


	2. District 9 Female: Never Too Good

One more note! – As before we don't know in what order the first eleven died sooo I'm just going by district for the most part.

Two: Never Too Good

District 9 Female

FUCK! That bitch from District 2, the Career, killed him. I know he would have to die sooner or later, but as I watch the red blood sink into the sand from the gaping wound in his neck, I feel remorse. I was the girl who wouldn't talk to him in class, I was too good for him. That's what I told myself. He never knew though how much he made me smile.

He was the class clown, but I knew, I was observant. He didn't believe in himself, but with parents like his.. not surprised. I knew he wouldn't make it long, no self-confidence.. Well two from 9 won't die this day. I turn to run for the forest line, and just like that I'm on the ground, blood in my eyes, blood in my mouth, searing pain in my head.

I look up, and there's someone standing above me. I try to scramble backwards, no good. The blunt object comes down again. And I have a small moment to scream, but no one will come to help. Not even him, but then I suppose.. no one is ever too good for death. And now he and I, we're the same.


	3. District 10 Female: It's Kind of Like

Three: It's kind of like a dream, isn't it?

District 10 Female

I don't even make it five steps off of my disc before the boy from Two is on me. Why me? Why me? Why not someone else? I want to ask, but I can't because he's squeezing and it's painful and I can't breathe.

The world goes grey and fuzzy kind of like when I'm just on the edge of sleep and the dreams come like mist in the night. Sleep sounds nice. Maybe when I wake up in the morning, Mother will smile again. She was crying.

Why was she crying?

I can't remember anymore…

Sleep.


	4. District 8 Male: It Was Warm

Four: It was Warm

District 8 Male

I hate confined spaces. I am standing on the disc, and there's so much space around me, but I can practically feel the walls of the Arena. Pressing in, pressing closer. Like at home, at work in the factories, working hours upon hours in the dark and cold.

It's not dark and cold here in the arena, it's warm and bright. I eye up all that is available in the cornucopia, and glance out of the corner of my eye at the others. Some are looking away from it, planning to make a run for it, others are obviously picking what they'll go for.

I'll need the food there, and it's not so far away. I could grab it and be gone before anyone caught up to me. I can tell with just one look to my fellow tribute from 8 that she's thinking the same thing. Not the smartest girl, I've ever met, but she too, like me must fell ill equipped.

What do we know of forests?

It's a blur, I'm running, and so is everyone else, some scattering, some battling, some so frozen in fear they don't even move from their starting position. They'll be dead soon.

I'm at the pile, one of the first. Triumph is in my heart, beating so fast I fear it may escape. My hands are on a fire starter kit when I'm tackled. I feel something snap within me.

Ironic I would work in the dark and cold to live, but fight in the light and heat to die.


	5. District 7 Male: You'll Go With Me

Five: You'll go With Me

District 7 Male

I hate her, can't stand her. The feeling is mutual. How can District 12 act all lovey dovey toward one another? It makes me sick. They'll get theirs though. They'll die against the careers, there's only ever been one winner from that district. Pathetic.

Why did the female from District 7 have to be her? No matter, at least it's not someone I care about. I can see her from three spots over looking at me. There's a quirk to her lips as if to say 'let the games begin.' And I know, this is the battle within the battle.

We have both seen it, the axe in the cornucopia. We are familiar with it, learned how to wield it young and with respect. Where to cut into the wood to make the tree fall where we wanted it to. And that's why she blames me, for felling the tree that killed the boy she loved. I told her she'd been an idiot for choosing him and then thinking that I would do such a thing, she told me I was a murderer. Maybe. I will be today.

She's there before me, but I'm confident I can wrestle it away from her, but she's too quick. Has she been practicing this move, hoping this day would come? The blade is sharp and it cuts through flesh and muscle as if it were nothing.

"I told you," she says, her eyes filled with her vengeance. I see the boy from District 1 aim his spear from behind her. "I told you I'd –" she cuts off abruptly as I grab her and hold her to me, the blade of the axe going deeper, but that doesn't matter, because the spear is cutting through us both. The tip pulls us forward and down as the Career pulls it out. We crumple, and she stays still on top of me.

The axe is buried between us and will not be used in the game again. It's only fitting that we should die at or because of each other's hands. "We'll go together," I say quietly, because all the air in the world is gone, it doesn't whistle through the trees and it doesn't come into my lungs.


	6. Disctrict 7 Female: It Was For You

Six: It Was For You

District 7 Female

I hate him, but if my name had to be drawn, then I'm glad that his was drawn too. It makes things so much easier. Even now waiting for that gong to go off, I'm staring at him, wondering if he can feel it. His eyes meet mine, and I can tell he must. My lips curve upward, but there's nothing friendly about it.

I'll kill him. I won't let anyone else. It's my right. What would have been a crime in the District, is now a triumph in the Arena. Maybe he's thinking the same thing. I can't know. I could never tell.

I was always quicker than him, smarter, faster, and I'd been working on my aim in the training sessions. It almost felt too easy, staring at him, as he stared at me. I wanted to push in just a little deeper, but the axe was lodged. I use my words instead.

"I told you.." His gaze flickers away from me for a moment, "I told you I'd—" and then he's pulling me in, almost as if he is hugging me, I can feel the wood of the handle in my gut, but he's done something to me. A pain through my back, through my chest and I can't even comprehend what's happened, but he's saying something, but I can't hear, and I can't see, and I can't can't can't

Author Note: If you've read this, can you please review? I don't usually ask for it in a story, but I want to see how I'm doing. Even if you don't review, I hope you've liked what's been written so far. Thanks :)


	7. District 6 Female: Like a Rabbit

Seven: Like a Rabbit

District 6 Female

I'm frozen, the gong goes off and I can't move. I'm like a rabbit, frozen in fear in the face of a predator. But there are twenty four predators.. twenty three tributes, and the arena itself. But my mind is running, telling me to do the same. _Run. Run. RUN YOU IDIOT! _

I finally do, but it's too late, I'm tripping and falling and I stumble into another tribute. We stare at each other for just a second, panic in both our faces. But the fear doesn't cause her to freeze, she moves fast. You or me. You or me. Me or You. And it isn't me, it's you. I don't and I can't run, and in the end I won't ever need to again. Twitch Twitch goes the rabbit, and then I lie still.


	8. District 6 Male: A Blossoming Rose

Eight: A Blossoming Rose

District 6 Male

It's pretty here.. I like it. They told me I have to stand here for just a minute. A minute. It's such a long time. The colors are so bright, not grey like home. They shine and shine. For a while things weren't shiny, they took them away, the morphling, but I got it back. I found it. Or did it find me? They have a way of popping up in the oddest places and I can never remember if I put them there, or if they've come on their own.

There's a sound now, kind of like music, but not, can I move now? The gold tent is beautiful, I bet it feels like silk. I have to touch it, my fingers twitch as I imagine what the texture might feel like beneath them. There's something nagging at me, trying to break through the warm fuzzy feeling. I need another.

I reach for my pockets, searching and searching. Why are people running around me? Is there a race? Funny place for one, there's no lines, hurdles, or anything. Someone's screaming at me, and I look up. "I can't find them." I say. She has pretty hair, all gold, kind of like the tent behind her. I want to touch it too, but something else is glinting as she raises a bow.

Why a bow, is she hunting? What is she hunting? And it's cold and not warm, sharp and not at all like silk, and I look down. Oh, I realize, she was hunting me. A red rose is blossoming upon my chest, and a thorn is in the middle of it. It's pretty and painful, and the girl with the golden hair is pulling out the thorn. I want to tell her thank you, but I can't get my lips to form the words, because the rose is still growing. But the petals are wet.. did it rain? And some of the color has smeared upon my fingers.

I lay there and look to the sky, but it's just blue and gold, not grey, and there's no rain. I close my eyes and it's dark, but I want to see the sky again, but my eyes won't open, and it's just black.


	9. District 5 Male: It's not a Betrayal

Nine: It's not a betrayal, if it was never true.

District 5 Male

You go for this, and I'll go for that, she told me, my fellow District 5 tribute. Our own alliance made, because we knew that apart we could never stand up to the others. Malnourished and weak, the most food we've ever had is here at the Capitol. Even now my last meal is sitting heavily on my stomach, but it doesn't make me drowsy.

She told me to go for the rope, a backpack, the sword. The rope is closer to me. She would go for food. It comes to my attention as I'm passing it that the items she is supposed to go for, that they're on the outskirts, not close in like the ones I'm supposed to go for.

It doesn't completely register until I'm there at the coiled rope, slipping it over my shoulder. This was her plan. If they were occupied with me, they weren't occupied with her. Just a pawn, a tool. And when I feel hands upon me, I want to bow my head and just hand them the rope. But they won't take it from me while I'm alive. Is it a betrayal, if it was never true? She is so smart, I wonder if one day she'll outsmart herself. I hope it happens. Then my head is sent to the side with a sharp and painful twist.

Take the rope, take the backpacks, take the sword, take all the food in the world, it doesn't matter anymore. Taker her life, and I'll be happy.


	10. District 4 Male: Not Finnick

Ten: Not Finnick

District 4 Male

I can hardly stand still, I can feel the nervous energy running through me. I've trained my whole life for this, or what feels like my whole life. I'll shine brighter than any of the other Tributes that came before from District 4, even brighter than Finnick. His is the name we always hear, who we are always compared to. _You are not as fast as.. as smart as.. can't you make a knot, Finnick was able to.. _It leaves a bitter taste after a while.

I'll show them though, but first, I need a weapon. I do not expect there to be a trident, but truth is, I wouldn't want it anyway. There is rope there though, and I could use it to create snares and traps, and for all manner of other things. There is also the spear. I've used something like them to fish, harpoons are somewhat familiar. So now, which is it? Rope or spear? Or both? Surely I can fight my way to them.

My indecision causes me the jump that I needed, but I don't let that deter me. There's someone at the rope before me, but it's no problem. I'm on them, behind them, my hands just under their jaw, and their struggling, but with a quick snap they don't struggle anymore. It's the boy from five. He looked weak to begin with. Probably never really worked physically hard a day in his life. Doesn't matter, he doesn't matter. Just another obstacle taken down.

Now for the spear.

I turn to where I knew it to be, but it's no longer there, and I want to curse. So I do. It feels satisfyingly good, but I'm also in motion. I might as well get out of here. _You weren't as fast as… _NO. I was fast, I didn't really need the spear anyway. I must have known it subconsciously I didn't need it. I could outsmart the others somehow and then I could have the spear back when I killed the one who took it.

I'm almost past where I stood moments before. How long has it been since the Game actually started? Doesn't matter. I hear a sound behind me, but I don't turn, and then there's a sensation in my leg and one step, a stumble, a limp, and I'm down. I see the throwing knife above my heel and it almost makes me wretch. They're both running at me now, they're both Careers too. Have they created an alliance already? Stupid, I should have thought of that. By running, I was a threat. I didn't run fast enough, or I wasn't smart enough to think of it. And in the male's hand is a spear. My spear. I know what's coming.

_You weren't as smart as…_

I have to accept it as the spear is whistling toward me, the knife in my Achilles tendon making running impossible. I can see the female tribute from District 4 behind them, watching and I want to laugh and tell her, "They'll kill you too." An alliance here means nothing, and I know she's not as smart as, nor as fast as the other Careers, but as it turns out I'm not as smart or fast as her or Finnick. I am not Finnick, but I will do something that Finnick has yet to do.

I will die.


	11. District 3 Female: Like Seams Unraveling

Eleven: Like Seams Unraveling

Discrict 3 Female

I'm committing suicide. Or am I? It's all jumbled up in my head. I wouldn't have given up my life if I were at home, I'd struggled there to live with what little there was, but here.. I don't see the point. I don't believe in taking another's life, and so I'll never win.

It's only me, I have no one to mourn me when I'm gone, no one to shame, no one to put in danger. I can't seem to get myself to do it though, I stare down at the edge of the disc. It would be easy, just one step, but I can't bring myself to take that step.

Then the gong goes off, and I've missed my chance. There will be plenty more. I walk, I don't run. I tremble, but I'm on a steady course. The big male from District 2 already has his sword, the one from District 1 has his spear, but he's using it on someone else. They've trained and trained to take lives, I've only ever taught myself to preserve my own. Now I go against all those lessons.

The one with the sword is looking at me. I smile. Come and kill me, end it. He smiles back, but it's one of disgust and maybe triumph at what he knows will be his second kill. I saw him strangle that girl from District 10. We meet each other, and with one stab and withdraw, we fall apart. Or I fall apart, like seams unraveling.


	12. District 8 Female: A Burning Fire

Twelve: A Burning Fire

District 8 Female

It's so cold and I'm alone. Or I wish I were alone ,I know they're out there somewhere. But maybe they're as cold as me, and they too are taking a break to start a fire as well. That's how I justify it when I finally get one to start. I hold my hands over it, watching the red, orange, and gold light play across the dirty skin. It's so warm. It was warm earlier in the day, but now with night having fallen the temperature has dropped.

Earlier at the cornucopia I was able to fight for a few supplies, though I didn't get anything too impressive. Just some items to make fire, and a little bit of food. My stomach grumbles at the thought of it, but I've already eaten it. I lay down as close to the fire as I can without setting myself on fire.

I think I must have fallen asleep because one moment I'm dreaming of home, and the next I'm awakened by the sound of twigs snapping. Is it an animal? They come all at once, before I'm even fully awake to move.

"Please, Please!" I plead, not sure if I'm pleading for their mercy or for what? Wasn't this end inevitable? Tears are streaking their way down my face, and they're like a pack of wolves tearing me apart. I scream, my throat burned raw from the force of it. I lay there, my chest barely rising, the wounds so many I can't tell what parts of me are still intact.

I hear their laughter and congratulations and someone crying out, "Twelve down and eleven to go!" Have they done the math? I hope whoever they are, they're one of the eleven. I can hear them walking away, I'm still incapable of movement. I try to get my legs, my arms, anything to work, but I can't. I wonder if this is what being dead feels like, but I never heard the canon go off. Are they realizing it too?

They must have, because I hear footsteps coming back, they're heavy too like he's not used to walking in a forest either. My eyes are open and a face leans over mine. Oh. It's the boy from twelve. He leans down, his lips beside my ear, his words whispering over it and through me. "I'm sorry," he says quietly, and he gently brushes the hair out of my eyes. "But it's you or her."

I can almost forgive him when he deals the killing blow. I hope he's not one of the eleven.


	13. District 4 Female: A Crushing Wave

Thirteen: A Crushing Wave

District 4 female

I am sleeping, and then I am awake, a buzzing in my ears, stinging in my flesh. I catch a glimpse of gold and all the signs point toward death. I hear someone saying "To the lake! To the lake!" and I stand and run, but running doesn't outdistance the creatures. They've targeted me as they've targeted the others. I go down, batting at them with my hands, but they just sting those too. My heart beat speeds up and the hallucinations begin.

There is a sea and I am in it, no I am it, ebb and tide, pulled by the moon. The moon sparkles off of it and the sparkles turn to diamonds and the diamonds to swords and they are cutting into me. I'm on the beach and the sand is warm beneath my fingers and I laugh and laugh. There's a crab that scuttles up beside me and I laugh at that too, but then it's pinching me, and a bubble erupts in the sand and millions spill forth and it hurts more than the swords that were diamonds.

I'm on the cliffs, looking into endless sand, and there's no water. Where has it gone? And I try to sing but my mouth doesn't work so I listen to the words in my head.

The sea, the sea, It calls to thee, follow the sand to the shore, there to meet your lover, your love forever more. Where is the lake? Where is the ocean and the fishing boats?

There it is beneath me suddenly, a wave crashing against the rocks. The sun above is burning my skin, and so I jump, and the sea devours me.

Down to the shore I go with thee, down to the waves to envelop me.

The water stills.


	14. District 1 Female Glimmer: Echoes

Fourteen: Echoes in my Mind

District 1 - Glimmer

I wake up screaming and already swatting at the insects angrily buzzing around me. But they're not just buzzing, they're stinging. And I know what these are, and I know what it means.

"Come back! Someone help! Marvel!" But no one comes back for me. I try to follow the girl from District Four, but she's no closer to me than the lake is that the others are running for. I stumble forward, one step, two, a stumble, and then down. I can feel my body twitching from the effects of the venom, and my breath catches on a sob.

The hallucinations begin, and I wonder what the others are seeing, and then I am caught in my own. They are not pleasant. My mother is screaming at me, calling me a failure, her golden hair turns to snakes that, as she grips my arms, hiss and bite. And then it is me that is screaming.

Then there's only darkness and a loud siren that hurts my ears and is then drowned out by a slowing tha-thump…tha-thump…..tha-thump. It's my heart and I know I am dying. Then there is more pain. Why is there more pain? It is everywhere, and it is also in my hand. The hand that they took the ring from. My token. The gift from my mother. And now they are trying to take something else.

STOP TOUCHING ME! I want to scream, but nothing passes my lips this time, it only echoes in my mind. And I let myself get caught in the resounding noise and the stuttering thumping of my heart is finally drowned out.


	15. District 10 Male: Spear for a Spear

Fifteen: Spear for a Spear

District 10 male

I'm surprised I've lasted this long. What day is it? I try to count the night and days but it's hard. Is it the seventh or the eighth? It all blends together in terror. I'm a quiet person, people don't usually notice me. I've become used to that, to hiding in plain sight, and maybe that's why I've survived so far. Other's call it a talent, I call it luck.

I was lucky in the bloodbath, I survived with my life and some supplies. But what to do with them? I've rationed out the food, eating only when I absolutely feel that my stomach cannot stay empty any longer. I've taken care of my foot as well as I can. At home, I am not used to such physical labor, and was given a job that suited my disability.

The arena does not suit it at all.

It is just as I have this thought that I hear a disturbance behind me and to the east. They're coming, they may not know I am here, but they are hunting. I turn and run, my gait a limping but efficient one after all the years that I have worked to overcome and adapt to my weakness.

I don't even have a weapon. My eyes scan the forest, trying to find something, anything to use. There's a fallen tree limb, perhaps… I hurry over to it, and holding one end, bring my good foot down, hoping to snap it in two and create a pointed end. Why hadn't I thought of this, before?

My foot goes through the limb with a snap, but my foot doesn't hit solid ground, instead it falls into a hole, and twists, and I fall, the jagged branch, now weapon, in my hand. Tears come to my eyes at the pain and the irony of it. It's not my bad leg that will cause my end after all, but the other.

I have never been a quitter though, and I struggle to stand, bracing myself against the tree that my weapon has come from. They heard the snap and they know where I'm at, but I won't go down without a fight. I may finish tenth.. another bit of irony that district ten should finish in that position, but no one at home will say that I didn't have my own kind of strength.

They surround me, sneering, spewing forth meaningless words. I can see there are fewer of them. That's right.. the girls from district four and ten are dead, and where is that boy from district 12? They exchange looks, as if deciding who should do the honor. It is the boy with the spear who ultimately steps forward. . some sort of comment about a spear for a spear. He looks mockingly at mine, and I look longingly at his.

Let him come then. I am not afraid. He comes at me as I stumble forward, and I am satisfied even as his spear pierces me, that mine scraped against his throwing arm. He hisses at me, and I just grin and bare bloody teeth, even as my breath hitches.

I at last made my mark. District 10 in Tenth.. not too bad, but for all that it matters I might as well have come in second or last. District 1 removes the spear from me with a harsh pull, obviously angered. I fall to my knees, and for once my foot no longer bothers me.

Nothing bothers me anymore.


	16. Distrct 3 Male: Stuck

Sixteen: Stuck

District 3 male

I hate this arena. I think to myself for perhaps the millionth time since I've been in this God forsaken hell hole of a fish bowl. I'm surrounded by idiots, but idiots that will keep me alive for a little bit longer. I know once we pick off the other districts, this little truce or pact or whatever is, will be over faster than I can say gigabyte.

I'd rather be back guarding the food, instead of on a wild goose chase after smoke. And a wild goose chase it proves to be, when we hear a thundering BOOM, which can only mean one thing. We all turn on our heels and run back toward camp, a few other explosions sounding, and I can hear Cato's mad screams and curses even before I make it on to the scene myself.

Fuck.

That one word sums it all up. It's all gone and destroyed, I doubt there's anything salvageable. I collect a handful of stones and toss them into the ruins to make sure that it's actually safe to walk in there. In retrospect.. maybe I should have had Cato go check it out.. without the stones. He's finally done throwing his tantrum.

"It's good," I say, though it's anything but. We start looking through the remains but it's all destroyed, nothing left to salvage. I can feel their heated glares on me now, and I look up, the sweat dripping down my back, nothing to do with the sun above us.

Cato is glaring at me, and he begins to shout.

"YOU .. YOU.." seems like he can't even form a sentence, "YOU'VE FUCKING KILLED US." He's advancing on me screaming about how there won't be enough food now, and what will they do? It finally occurs to me that one less mouth equals more food for the group, and less competition later.

I only have time to turn and run before he pulls me into a headlock. I try to struggle. He's too strong. A sharp pain in my neck, and I hear a snapping noise that resounds through my ears.


	17. District 1 Male Marvel: A Net, a Spear

Note: okay sooo I tried my best on this one. Rue's moment comes after this part. :( I'll have that up by Sunday hopefully.

Seventeen: A net, a spear, and an arrow

District 1 Male: Marvel

There is anger in my gut, filling it instead of food, the lost food. It didn't take us much time last night to realize when only District 3 and District 10's faces lit the sky, that the perpetrators were out there. That the smoke we had chased after was a diversion. So two of them had to be working together.

It couldn't be the boy from twelve, he wouldn't have been able to move fast enough, Cato told us. The girl from five didn't strike me as the type to pair up with anyone. I was somewhat certain she'd sent her own fellow tribute to the gallows in his attempt to grab items that first day. It could be the pair from district 11, or even that girl from 12, the one who now had Glimmer's arrows.

My eyes narrow. Glimmer. She died too early. She should still be here, if nothing else, to help me. It's been hell being around those two from District 2. They don't think anyone sees or notices the way they look at each other. But I do. I'm pretty certain the boy from District 3 did too. He's not seeing anything anymore.

I was actually pleased that they suggested we split up and look for whoever it was who'd done this. To go toward where the smoke had been once again. I wouldn't be going back the other way, even if I didn't find anybody. The time for the Career pack is over.

Two can climb trees, and the surrounding ones are more sturdy than the ones the girl from 12 had climbed up. Still, the height makes my stomach roil just a little. I've never been a fan of being up too high. The net that the girl from district 4 wove and left behind, and which I had carried in my pack, is held tight in my fingers and irritates the skin when I clench it too tight.

I pause as I hear the sound of a mockingjay not above me, but below. I glance down, and there she is, the little girl from 11. I am so stiff from sitting here for practically four hours that I almost miss my opportunity, but I don't.

The net drops on her. She thrashes in surprise and it tangles. I grin. Good, she won't escape from it then. I grab the spear and drop down, as she screams.

I feel a twinge of remorse, but I can't let it stop me. I've killed so many already in this Game, what is one more? It does mean _my_ life, doesn't it?

She's screaming for someone else now.

"Katniss! Katniss!"

So she'd teamed up with the girl from 12. And I can hear her calling back. Telling the little girl that she's coming. She'll come too late. My grin turns feral. I can feel the way it stretches my cheeks into something so unlike a smile that it's ugly. Maybe I should wait, just a moment.

I see the girl from district 11, (I will not allow myself to think of her as Rue, as a little girl with a name) push her hand through a hole in the mesh, reaching for the girl from 12 who's just crashed through the brush into the clearing. She's too late though, and as the girl from 11 says the other's name, I thrust my spear into and through the mesh and into her stomach.

But then.. it's me in pain and it's in my neck. I cant even pull out the spear, _my _spear. I think I am in shock and I reach up to feel what is in my throat. And I panic. An arrow. Glimmer's arrow. Poetic since I didn't go back for her when she called to me during the tracker jacker attack.

I pull on the arrow, wanting it _out. OUT NOW. _The blood flees my body more quickly, and I'm drowning in it. The girl from 12, no I may as well think of their names now, Katniss, is asking the other, Rue, if there are anymore, but I can barely hear it over the buzzing in my ears.

There are no more.

I am no more.


	18. District11 Female Rue: Here is the Place

Note: This was SO hard to write! It was tough trying to get into the mindset of a young girl for one thing, and then to get into the mindset of a young girl who knows she's going to die. :( I choked up a little toward the end. I hope this does Rue's character justice. I don't know if I can write it any better. Obviously the dialogue/song comes from the book directly. So don't sue me I don't own anything! D:

Eighteen: Here is the Place

District 11 Female: Rue

It _hurts. _I can't breathe past the pain and I curl up around the spear. I can hear Katniss.

"Are there more? Are there more?" she shouts.

"No," it comes out as a whisper and she's still spinning, her arrow drawn.

"No." I try louder, and again and again until she stops and rushes to me.

My breath hiccups in my throat but I continue taking small quick shallow breaths. I watch her as she pushes the boy from District 1 away from me.

She looks terrible, but she looks beautiful too. I remember thinking she was prettier than Glimmer when I saw her before the Games started, back during the interviews and the testing. There's something about her, an inner strength, or maybe an innate kindness and inability to just not care.

I told her it was the golden mockingjay that told me I could trust her. I lied, because I think it was something more she could understand, than that I thought she was a person I thought I could admire.

She's now looking at the embedded weapon, this helpless look on her face. I've yet to see that expression, even when she was stuck up the tree with the Careers prowling like a pack of wolves beneath her.

I can't stand to see that look, and so I reach out my hand and she grasps it tightly. But I can barely feel the strong fingers squeezing the small child like ones of my own.

"You blew up the food?" I ask, and I try for my voice to come out a little more strongly, but it comes out as a whisper instead. It's hard to get the words up my throat and past my lips.

"Every last bit," she says and I close my eyes for just a moment in thanks, before opening them quickly, afraid that if I close them too long that I'll never be able to open them again, and there's something I have to tell her.

"You have to win." Not I hope you win, or you're going to win, but you _have _to win. All that's left are the Careers, her friend Peeta who I still believe is in love with her, the girl from five, and Thresh. Thresh who is my friend and enemy, just like Katniss.

I entertain the thought of what would have happened if at the end it had just been Katniss and me. I don't know that I would have been able to take her life, and I like to think she wouldn't take mine either. I guess I don't have to worry any longer about it.

"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now," she promises me. I believe it. I know she can win, I know she will win. There has to be some balance to the world, doesn't there? Some sense of rightness and fairness in all this.

The sound of a canon goes off and I know that the District 1 boy is dead. And I know it will attract the other's attention, but I don't want to die alone!

"Don't go." I tighten my grip on her hand, but I know that she could break it if she wished. I want my Mother and Father and my little sisters to see that I didn't die alone, that someone who cared about me was here with me. And.. I am afraid. More than the pain, I am scared of what death will be like, and I don't want to face it by myself. I want to beg and plead but the words are caught up in me.

I don't have to.

"Course not. Staying right here," Katniss says and moves in closer to me. She pulls my head into her lap and gently brushes my hair back behind my ear. And it's so like my Mom comforting me after a long days work that I want to weep with homesickness and grief. I may be a Tribute to the Games but I am still a little girl, and I want nothing more than to be at home.

But I'll never see home again.

"Sing," I say and my voice is now even smaller than a whisper. I don't know what there is left to say between us, and I don't think I can talk anymore. Everything's kind of fading away, now slowly and gently, but I don't want silence between us.

There is a long pause in which I wonder if I have asked too much, but she gives a small cough and begins. It's a song I have never heard before, but it's beautiful, and I think if I had lived and heard it, I would forever remember it.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow_

_A bed of grass, as oft green pillow_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise._

As she sings my eyes close and I try to focus on just breathing. I want to hear all of it. Please just let me last long enough to hear it all.

_Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here are your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you._

I want to tell her I love her in the way a little sister loves her older sister. That if I had lived I would have liked to have been like her. I want her to tell my parents and my sisters that I love them, and not to grieve too much for me. I wonder who will signal the workers with their song that the work day is done.

Numbly, I feel drops of water on my face, and I know it's not raining. Katniss is crying, and I don't want that, but I can do nothing. Just breathe in and out. I don't want to die, each breath seems to say, each syllable a heartbeat that now comes further apart from one another.

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away_

_A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray_

_Forget your woes, and let your troubles lay_

_And when again it's morning, they'll wash away_

I can barely hear the words any longer, nor do I feel the pain too much either. Maybe it will just be like going to sleep, like the words in the song. Maybe I'll wake in the morning and the sun will rise, and there will be no troubles, and there will be no fighting or working. Maybe my eyes will open to a day full of song and living. It's a nice dream to have and I hold onto it knowing that the end is near, and knowing it's not just the song that will end.

_Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you._

I love you Katniss, but I can't love anyone anymore now. Love someone for me. There is silence and then I hear the mockingjays sing. Just like home. I'm ready to go.

You have to win for both of us now.


	19. District 2 Female Clove: Fingertips Like

Note: This one almost made me cry too ;_; I mean Clove is a real piece of work, and I think I tried to fit too much backstory into too few of a time.. but this is about their final moments, not about their whole lives. Do you think I should write a Cato/Clove story? Because it's pretty tempting! Let me know what you think.

Nineteen: Fingertips like Kisses

District 2 Female: Clove

My fingers itch to reach out and touch him, but I can't. All of District 2 will see. And they will know that we broke the rules. It is drilled into our heads along with the lessons of battle, that we aren't to form any sort of romantic attachment until we're past the age of candidacy. It is a liability in the ring, a danger. It was a rule we couldn't follow.

Now, even when two of us can win, when both Cato and I can live, I can't break that barrier. After, I will. After we win I will kiss him infront of all of Panem, and no one will scold us or 'discipline' us. He grabs my upper arm with one of his large hands. The calluses on them are rough and feel all too right.

He's speaking, and I force my eyes away from his lips and up to his eyes that hold a teasing light. He knows what I'm thinking, he always knows. I thought I would about kill him when he volunteered. But I would have volunteered if his name had come first. Those few moments on the train here when we had been alone.. when we had snuck away from our mentors, they had been the best moments of my life.

"You'll go to the Cornocupia. I'll keep an eye out for the other tributes," he says, his hand falling away from my arm, but fingertips lingering at the last second. "Peeta is wounded, and lover boy's girl'll probably show up for her pack. None of the others have a partner left to watch their backs." His eyes narrow slightly. "Be careful."

I give him a laugh and flick my hair back behind my shoulder. "Don't worry about me. Just think, Cato! If we get them all…" the answering grin is enough for me. I love the way he smiles, but I pull away from his presence. There are still four others left between Cato and me, and I only consider two of them a threat. The girl from 12 and the boy from 11. One for her arrows and the other for his strength. But I only truly _hate _one of them.

Or, I muse, as I make my way closer to the Cornucopia, I hate the girl from 12 because I envy her. Yes, I, Clove who have never really wanted for anything am envious. They don't have to _hide _what they feel. Or rather, Peeta doesn't hide it, the girl just seems oblivious to me. An idiot who doesn't deserve the affection given to her. Who didn't deserve to be able to hold her lover's hand infront of the whole world during the opening ceremony.

I would give _anything _to openly show Cato how I feel in the arena, to give and take comfort in one another. I give myself a mental shake, and even shake my limbs a bit to get myself back on task. I check my arsenal of knives, making sure I know where each one is, and it's purpose. I grip a throwing knife and watch.

The table rises and clicks into place, and then the girl from 5 is dashing out of the Cornucopia and snags her own pack. _Clever_. But she's thin and emaciated; I don't expect her to live too much longer on her own. She'll be easy enough to track down later, and she's running in a direction I know Cato will have seen. It's Katniss and Thresh that I'm waiting for now. I can feel every muscle tense as I wait.

_There she is!_ I stand and throw the first knife, and pulling another as I run out of the cover of the forestry. She deflects the first knife with her bow and I want to scream with frustration. That's the third knife that should have killed her. She turns and shoots an arrow at me and I only have a small amount of time to turn my body, but damn if she doesn't hit me. And this time, I do let out a scream through clenched teeth.

It takes me a moment to pull the arrow out of my arm and check to see if it's nicked anything fatal, but it hasn't, and I've lost precious seconds. At least it wasn't my throwing arm. She has grabbed her orange backpack, which I'm sure is filled with something helpful to loverboy. And here Cato and I had thought it was all a ruse, their romance. She obviously cares enough to risk her life for him.

It doesn't garner any points with me. And I throw the next knife and it hits her right above the eyebrow. I grin, the pain and adrenaline, probably causing it to look more feral than attractive. She staggers backward and tries to shoot at me once again, but her aim is off and I slam into her and pin her shoulders to the ground with my knees.

I look down at her, helpless beneath me, and breathe heavily.

"Where's your boyfriend, District 12? Still hanging on?" I ask. I don't want her to just hurt physically. I want her to feel all the pain that I've had to endure readying myself for these Games and in 'playing' in them. There were times I wished I lived anywhere other than a "Career" District.

"He's out there now. Hunting Cato." She snarls, and my blood runs cold even as she screams, "Peeta!" I jam my fist into her windpipe, and turn my head from side to side listening for Cato to call for me. And I would leave her or kill her if it meant I could save him from danger. But he doesn't call, and I hear no signs of fighting. And then I remember where Cato had said he had cut the other boy.

"Liar," I say with a grin and continue telling her that I know he must be nearly dead and that I know where his wound is. That the medicine she's risked her life for will never make it to heal him. That he'll die wherever she has him stashed away. There's hope in my chest at the thought. That meant two with one blow. And surely Cato and I together could take down Thresh and the girl from 5.

But first.. I open my jacket and select one particular knife. "I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd give the audience a good show." And despite the relationship that Cato and I might have later, they will not say it weakened us in the arena. The blood will appease the skeptics in District 2.

She struggles, but I'm heavier than she is, even though I've lost weight since our stores were blown up. And it was probably her that did it. I let her know that her struggling is futile and what it is that will happen to Peeta, and remind her of what has happened to Rue. The look in her eyes, such fury, almost makes me want to stop laying it on so thick. But I can't. Appearance is everything. I have to be strong if Cato and I are going to get through this and through what comes after. I have to put on a good show.

I tell her after wiping the blood away from her wound with my jacket sleeve that I think that I'll start with her mouth. She stares into my eyes and doesn't close them. And it unsettles me. I want to yell at her to quit looking at me. Perhaps I should end it quickly, get it over with. What am I doing? But that hatred is welling up within me. Frustration and jealousy and anger.

"Want to blow Lover boy one last kiss?" Unfair that she could even do so if she wanted. She spits in my face instead and I feel such rage I don't even feel that small twinge of conscience that had all but trained out of me before the Games. "All righ then. Let's get started." And I press the tip of the knife to her lip, but then strong arms are coming around my midsection and yank me up. My breath escapes me and I drop the knife.

Who is it? Who is it? My thoughts are frantic and whoever it is, it must be Thresh, the large boy from 11, flips me around and flings me to the ground.

"What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?" he shouts, and the noise is so loud in the almost silence of the arena that my ears ring.

But I didn't kill her! I had lied, it wasn't me! It was Marvel maybe, but not me! I scramble backward and tell him so but he doesn't believe me, and it's my lie that might kill me.

"You said her name. I heard you. You kill her? You cut her up like you were going to cut up this girl here?"

"No! No, I—"I try to defend myself with words and even as I do so I know it's stupid. I see the stone in his hand and I lose myself in my fear. "Cato!" I screech. "CATO!" Oh please please please. Cato.

"Clove!" I hear his voice, but I know he's too far away, that he must have pursued the girl from Five, and maybe turned back. I try to scramble back once more, but Thresh is quick and he brings down the rock hard and I see red and black alternating and then just black. I moan with the pain of it.

I can vaguely hear them talking but I don't care anymore about what they have to say. I try to get my limbs to work, but they don't. It's like waking too fast, and being aware, but unable to move.

"Clove!" I can hear his voice again, and it's the only voice I care about. It might have been moments later or years, I can't tell anymore, but his voice is closer and closer still until it's next to me. The other's must have gone.

"Oh God Clove! Clove! Stay with me! We're so close!" the break in his voice breaks my heart. And I can't answer! I want to answer!

"Don't leave me now! I can't - " he breaks off and can't continue. His fingertips are on my face and I wish they were kisses. A kiss to send me to sleep, like Katniss told Thresh she had used her song to send Rue off.

My wish is granted. I don't think he cares anymore about the others in District 2 because I feel something that's not fingertips upon my lips. I never wanted the kiss to end like this. He keeps whispering over and over. "Please, please, please Clove please." And then…

"I love you," he whispers into my ear and it's sweeter than any song I've ever heard. I only wish I could sing it back. I fall sleep with it echoing in my heart.


	20. District 11 Male Thresh: Lead Him Away

Note: I'm really not sure on this one . I've been in a funk the last two days, just some real life stuff, and I'm afraid it might show in my writing. If it's completely terrible, let me know. I don't think I'd change too much, the gist would be pretty much the same.

On another note - I started a Cato/Clove story and it's posted. The first installment is "never seen green" I picked up a 100 prompt challenge (BIG undertaking) so if you like the pairing go check it out and tell me what you think. :) Thaaanks all of you!

**Twenty: Lead Him Away**

District 11 Male Thresh

I used to love the sound of thunder, it meant an impending rain storm, and a break from the grueling day in day out work. Now, I hate it. It covers up the sounds of someone coming, of maybe a twig breaking, or a disturbance in the tall wheat. The lighting causes flashes of illumination that plays with the shadows.

I know Cato is coming for me, I assured it, if not by killing Clove, then by taking their pack. But it was what I wanted. Katniss does not deserve to die, just like Rue did not deserve to die. I am thankful to Katniss that she sang Rue to sleep. It would be how the little girl would like to go, with song and music.

Rue and I decided early on before the Games start that we would part ways. But seeing the arena itself cemented the plan. She does..did.. better in the trees than on the ground, and no tree here in the arena could hold me easily.

Neither of us wanted to kill the other. And it was why I turned down the Careers when they came to me with offers of alliances. That and I have some pride and integrity. To join up with the Careers who have killed so many of District 11's children in the past 73 Hunger Games would be an unforgivable betrayal.

I hope they will understand why I let Katniss go and why I lead her would be killer away. I think, though, he may have followed me anyway. I heard him pleading for her to stay with him. But no amount of pleading stops death.

Death doesn't frighten me, but I'll fight it. I've already killed one Tribute, I can kill another. Cato is a large man, and although not as large as me, it will be a hard fight. A fight to the death, like Spartans in the history texts. Many think me a simpleton, or just lacking intelligence, due to my lack of conversational skills. The truth is, I don't see the point in talking unless there's a reason to it.

Another flash of light and boom of thunder and I want to curse the Gamemakers. They're wanting to end this, I think. I stand still for a moment trying to see past the rain, the lightning, and the darkness. I have just a moment as he comes out of the darkness to twist my body to the side, my feet sliding in the mud, and I very nearly avoid injury together. But there's a line of stinging pain across my bicep and I know he's cut me with the sword.

The ground is treacherous though and he, too, finds it hard to make quick movements in the slick ground. I see his eyes in the flash of lightning, filled with a grief stricken anger. A thirst for revenge. The only weapons I have are my body and my mind. I set my feet and lunge forward, my fist flashing outward and catching him in the jaw, turning his face to the side and causing him to stagger. The sword doesn't drop though, and he goes for another pass. Another line of pain, but my adrenaline is too high to let me really feel it. With his move, he's left himself open, and I bring my knee up and into his stomach.

The sword finally drops from his hand, and I try to wrestle him to the ground. But fingers and his clothing are slick with the rain and panting, he pulls away. He doesn't go for the sword again. Instead he rushes me, and tackles me to the ground. I'm almost surprised by this. He must know that I have the advantage, he may be big, but I'm bigger. I can almost taste the triumph.

We roll until I come out on top, and I wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze. He thrashes, and I wonder if this is how Rue looked when it happened to her. What I can't know, but realize a second later, is there's a method to his movements, because he's raising one of his arms, and there's something in it. I recognize it for what it is, even in the poor lighting. A rock. The same rock, and it slams up against the side of my head.

My hands loosen as does my hold on him and he pushes me partly off of him, as with the other he grabs from inside his jacket, a knife. Her knife.

"For Clove," he snarls, his voice is a bit weak, and is almost drowned out by the thunder. Even half stunned I know what's coming, and I raise my arm to fend it off, but he uses his free hand to knock it away and the knife is burying itself in my throat ,and then he drags it to the side.

The lightning strikes and the thunder booms. No one will know I'm dead.

X x x x x x x xx x x x x

As a BIG thank you to my reviewers – the next three to review – please add a POV you'd like to see? Or some little snippet of a character's life? Please make it something that can be written with a one shot. If I really undertake the Cato/Clove story that will be a big undertaking in itself. Thanks again


	21. District 5 Female Foxface: Tastes Like

Voila! Here is Foxface's thoughts and reactions. I was actually expecting this to be shorter, but she kept on talking. /

Twenty One: Taste Like Death

District 5 Female: Foxface

I'm so close I can taste it, and the thought of taste makes me remember my hunger. I caught a glimpse of myself in the water in the stream, it took all of me not to slam my hand into the reflective surface, for fear of alerting one of the others. I hardly recognized myself, that's how thin my face has become.

There's only three others now. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato. I know all their names, because I remember things like that. I doubt they know mine, the red haired girl from 5. I wonder if they question why I'm still alive, and I grin. It's really quite easy to outsmart people who are just so much more stupid than you are.

I followed my own set of rules I'd made up before the Games even started. There's only five of them and they aren't really _that_ hard to follow. I call them "The Rules of Staying Alive in the Arena."

Kill off as many as I can – well the only one I've really had a part in is my own fellow tribute from 5, but let's face it. I did him a favor. If he had made it into the forest, he wouldn't have known what to do and heaven forbid he actually try to follow _me. _So I told him to go for the things that were further in. It was his own fault that he actually listened.

Don't pair up with _anyone. _It would be just one more person to look out for, and I only want to look out for one person. Myself. Besides, it isn't like a partnership could really last in the Games. And I sure as hell didn't want to have any sort of attachment to someone that might very well have to kill later.

Stay out of the Career's way. Check. There's only one of them left now. It had been a beautiful thing when I saw the destruction that had been wrought upon their Camp. All that food gone. I stood there and _laughed. _It was the first time in the Games that I actually felt that I could win. I knew none of them could scavenge for themselves. The only one that I think that can actually beat me now, might be Katniss. She has a look about her, like she knows hunger, and knows how to get what she needs to survive. I think if I had wanted to break rule number 2 I might have attempted to pair up with her. At least for a little while anyway. Until I would have to follow rule number 1.

Stay hydrated and well fed. Hydration wasn't too much a problem once I found the stream, but staying well fed has been a struggle.

Don't die.

I don't think that needs any further explanation. So far I'm alive, and I plan on staying that way. I'm just so hungry, and I'm used to being hungry, but I've never faced this kind of hunger. The kind that makes me feel weak in mind, spirit, and body. I'm on the brink of starving, but I still keenly feel the hunger so I know I'm not near death yet. All the same I had almost screamed when I opened my pack at the Feast and found not food, but a sleeping bag, and a knife.

With the loss of body mass, perhaps they thought I was having a hard time keeping myself warm, which I am, but it's nothing compared to the hunger. Whoever my sponsors are, I want to commandeer a hovercraft, kick their asses out in the northern wastelands, and give them only the sleeping bag to survive. See if they'd rather be cold or hungry. Or both. Maybe I wouldn't give them a sleeping bag.

I give myself a firm shake. I can't let my mind keep wandering like this. I need to find Katniss and Peeta, they're sure to have food, I'm certain of it. I don't even bother to consider finding Cato. He won't have any food. He feeds off of his anger now.

I go slowly, carefully, pausing when I hear a sound, standing still until I hear no others. I'm listening for one type of sound inparticular, and I almost clap my hands together when I hear it. The sounds of footsteps. They're loud too. Probably not Katniss then. I follow the sound as carefully as before, stalking it instead of running away from it. There comes the urge to jump and squeal like a little girl again. He's collecting _food _and he's just _leaving _it lying around.

They have to know I'm still out here, maybe they don't think I'm brave enough (or desperate enough) to take their food. Or they don't consider me a threat. That's a mistake.

I finally happen upon him, and crouch down to wait. My muscles hurt, but I try to push past the pain. This is survival. I want him to leave the pack they've got the food in. My thoughts are practically willing him to do so. _Come on, Come on!_

I watch him walk further away, but I'm not sure how long he'll be gone. Everything in me screams for me to grab it. But I have to wait. He comes back with a handful of berries and drops them on a tarp, next to what I can see is some apples, cheese, and rolls. A bounty. My mouth waters.

He's making his way back to the stream, and I see this as my chance. I dash forward as quietly and as fast as I can. I leave the apples and rolls.. but surely they wouldn't miss too much of the cheese. I grab a few pieces of that and the berries, and get back to my hidey hole just in time for Katniss to burst into the clearing.

She almost shoots Peeta. Damn. What a stroke of fortune that would have been. I nibble on the cheese, and want to giggle at their conversation. She's actually accusing _him_ of eating without her. I'm pretty glad I didn't ever seriously consider pairing up with her. The girl's kind of demanding. _ I_ certainly wouldn't have waited for her.

He asks her if she wants a berry as I finish the cheese and place one of said berries in my mouth. I'm anticipating something sweet, cool, and juicy as I bite into it.

I swallow and I don't even have time to think that by following rule number four, I've broken rule number five. Don't Die.

X x x x x x x x x x

I wasn't going to post this til the morning, but I got scared that would go crazy again and not allow me to log in! I've had two people review the last chapter with their requests for a one shot. That leaves one more. OF course I'll take any reviews you'll give me.

Anyway, only one chapter left. ;_; and then it will be over!


	22. District 2 Male Cato: Eyes Not Hers

Note: This was.. hard to write. I'm not much into writing torture or action, so I hope I did okay. I didn't want it to be really graphic either. So.. this is the last chapter. It's been a long kind of tough time writing it. I started it 01/07/2012. It took a little over a month to finish. As of this moment it has 29 reviews, 5173 views, 4 favorites, and 17 alerts. I want to thank all of you who gave this story a chance. It means a lot to me.

I have two requests for fics from the last two reviewers. One will be Peetas POV of the Bread and Dandelion moments. And the other will be some of the Tributes reactions to Peetas declaration during his interview. I'm not sure when they'll be written or finished, but be on the look out for it. :)

One more thing! I promise! If you've read this far – I started a Cato/Clove 100 prompt fic, the first chapter is up. I also have a Peeta/Katniss story in the works as well. It's a bit AU because Peeta's name is never called, but Katniss still wins the Games. And is inspired by Mockingjay after Finnick's interview "I'm left with Haymitch in the rubble, wondering if Finnick's fate would have one day been mine. Why not? Snow could have gotten a really good price for the girl on fire." Interested?

**Twenty Two: Eyes Not Hers**

District 2 Male: Cato

I pull on the body armor, and after doing so, stare long and hard at the extra set. It was supposed to be Clove's, but Clove is dead. I hadn't bothered taking Thresh's backpack, there was no point. It's going to be over soon, and he didn't have anything that I absolutely needed anyway.

There had been a moment there that I thought I would die, and by some backwater district 11 tribute , no less. He had been large and strong, but I had been stronger. And I had just as much a thirst for revenge as he did when he killed… it hurts to think about. I keep the anger close to my heart to eat the sorrow.

I run my fingertips over the fabric and remember the last time I touched her face, the blood that stained my hands. I told her I loved her, kissed her, and I wonder if she knew. I wonder if District 2 will have anything to say about it, or if they'll overlook the breaking of one of the rules since I won. And I'm going to win, if not for myself or District 2, which are large motivators, then I'll do it for her.

The fabric drops from my fingers as I sit up straighter at the sound of a disturbance far behind me. I grin. Have they come to find me? I grab up my spear and leave the pack. I only need myself and my sword now. I put all thoughts of anything other than victory away. They'll be time to think of it later.

I'm standing in position, when the first one clears the brush. I can feel my eyes widening and my jaw dropping a fraction. I wonder if it's the same reaction of anyone watching, but then they would've known this was coming, I'm sure of it.

It stands still, it's teeth bared as more come up beside it. And it's eyes are familiar, I've seen those eyes. I scan over the rest of them, paralyzed into inaction. And it registers in my mind.. they are the other Tributes. And they are going to kill me.

I turn on my heel, and run, and I can hear them following behind me. There's no thought of fighting or victory, just survival and it's more of an instinct than a thought, and somehow I know if I make it to the Cornucopia, I'll be safe.. or at least more safe.

I lose my spear somewhere along the way. I'm even more thankful for the bodysuit, it repels much of the harm the foliage would have done, though I catch a few smacks to the face by low tree limbs. They should have sent a mask as well. I run for what seems like a lifetime.

I burst out of the woods and onto the plain, and I see Katniss and Peeta, but I don't really care. My target is the Cornucopia now. I see her pull her arrow and shoot. It hits my chest, and I feel only a slight sting, but it falls to the side. They shift their stances, readying for a fight, but I run past them, not even bothering to slow down. They are the lesser of two evils.

I reach the cornucopia and start to climb, the adrenaline so high that I feel like my heart might beat out of my chest, and my lungs are on fire. I reach the top quickly and lay there, gagging and trying to bring in oxygen. I feel sick and dizzy, and if I had eaten anything today I'm sure I would have thrown up.

Almost all sound is a roaring in my ears, the beat of my heart, and the woosh of air through my mouth. Black spots dance in my vision but I can't afford to pass out. I double over, my eyes on the Mutts. One of them has _her _eyes. I have no strength in me to sob, but my words come out deformed and sound not quite like "Can they climb it?" like I wanted them too.

Katniss shouts at me and Peeta answers her. He understood. A moment later she shrieks and I know she's figured it out too and she explains it to Peeta who has always seemed a bit slow to me. Didn't he understand that we all knew it was a ruse. Or maybe he didn't understand that she just didn't love him. Either way, it's pathetic.

But then he asks, "You don't think… those could be their real eyes?" A shiver of disgust runs down my spine as my breathing starts to even out. I watch as a short time later the Mutts plan a new way to devour us. And it almost works too when one of them jumps and sinks it's teeth into Peeta's leg. I feel a moment of.. I don't know what to call the feeling actually. It's relief, and triumph, and then defeat as moments later he stabs the thing and Katniss pulls him up and toward me.

She must think I'm the lesser evil as well. It doesn't matter though, because all of us, we are _all _evil and we can all kill. My legs are a bit shaky when I stand, but I've been trained to work past any pain, to fight and to survive. The largest one, the one that I know is Thresh or was Thresh or represents Thresh (I hope it is the last, and that it is not is or was), jumps and I reach out and grab Peeta in a swift movement, my arms around his neck as I step closer to the edge. It would be easy to throw him over, but I want Katniss to s_ee _him die. It's a just revenge. Her arrows can't pierce my armor, and to shoot at my head is tricky, unless she just wanted to end Peeta's misery.

"Shoot me and he goes down with me," I say and she knows I'm right. His death would almost be a victory even if I do die. She'll have to live with the memory of it. That she caused it. I feel my lips stretch into a triumphant smile.

I feel something warm and wet trace my hand in the form of an x, and I know it's Peeta's fingers.. but what does it mean? And then I know what I it means and the smile falls from my lips, because I know what it means, and then an arrow is piercing my hand. While my mind has figured it out, my body betrays me and the pain causes me to release Peeta who in the next moment slams up against me. The blood on the gold is slick and I lose my footing and fall to the ground.

The breath is gone from my lungs again, and the mutts are upon me. I try not look into their faces, I don't want to see her eyes. I cover my face as best as I can, and try to rise to my knees. Their teeth slide against the mesh of my bodysuit, not quite piercing it, but I feel as if I'm a stake being tenderized. I know bruises must be forming beneath the armor.

I stand with a growl of my own, pulling out Clove's knife from my clothing. I wish I had my spear. I let out a howl of pain as one set of claws drags it way shallowly across the back of my neck and I lash out backwards, the knife leaving a spray of blood behind it.

There are twenty of them and only one of me. I kill off a few and I recognize some of them as the Tributes in whose death I've already taken a part of. I just have to get back to the side of the Cornucopia. I feel as if I am a mass of wounds, and my body is shaking. They never trained us for this. They never expected it. I am overpowered finally, one bites down on my hand, sinking teeth through my palm and I drop the knife. There's nowhere to go now, but down.

I beg and plead, but there's no humanity in their eyes. I try to shield my face again, but it doesn't matter. They gnaw and gnaw and I feel blood in the suit from the dull impact. I feel blood on my hands, my neck, my face. I am surrounded by blood.

"Please Clove, you know me. Please." I say to one with dark fur and green eyes. They are not her eyes, there is no recognition in them, nothing but animalistic rage. I think I am delirious due to my pain. I scream as she scrapes her claw against my cheek.

It goes on for hours and hours, until I can no longer speak, and I can only whimper and moan in pain. I beg in my mind for some higher power to end it. I don't care if I don't win. What is life after the Games anyway? I just want the pain to stop. I try at times to drag myself closer to the edge. Sometimes I make it a foot, other times I don't make it all before I'm pulled under the mass of Mutt again.

The sun has risen and I raise my eyes upward and see out of on eye that Katniss is looking over the edge. So they survived the night. I heard her yelling at times for Peeta to wake up, but I could really care less. I only care for the end now.

"Please. Please." I try to say past lips that are no longer really lips. "Please." She has her bow and arrow.

I shift my gaze to the Mutt's and it hurts to look, but I want _her_ eyes to be the last I see.

And then finally the pain stops.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

So my last request for this story: Please tell me what you thought. What POV did you like the most? Who would you have liked to see more of? This story will stay as Cato and Katniss as characgters for a couple days and then I'll be changing it to "other tributes" and changing the summary. Thanks again for all of those who have stuck with this story and for any who decide to read any more by me! 33


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